Believers Worry Less Than Non-Believers

We’ll start with a couple of definitions::

Those are decent, but
this article at Alternet
has one I prefer much more. It comes from historian Robert Paxton’s work on
Fascism, which he defines as:

Paxton expands on this:

I would say we’re just about here. The classes are polarizing, and each pole
is fueling the hate of the other. I’ve known this for quite some time, and
I’ve written about it here on numerous occasions. But I never really knew
what to call it.

Fascism actually doesn’t capture all of what I’d like to say about our
future, but it’s a good start. Basically, we’re heading towards a reality in
which our democracy will become, as one expert on NPR put it,
“Latin-Americanized”. In short, it’ll be there in name alone. Corruption is
about to explode in a way never seen in America–fueled mostly by the
ignorance and diversion of the American populace.

Corporations that take advantage of people and ultimately influence all
political movements will become increasingly powerful. The goal of the
corporations will be to influence politics in their favor, and the goal of
politicians will be to get the most out of the corporations as possible–in
terms of their own self-benefit–while simultaneously putting on a dance for
the ignorant masses who keep them in office.

Getting hired at a corporation will increasing become a matter of who you
know rather than what you know. It’ll become much more like China, where
90% of all of their billionaires are children of prominent
politicians.

If you get in to a corporation you’ll be very thankful, because it’ll mean
you live within the green zone. These will be areas around “civilized,
corporate areas” centered near business centers. These will be the only
places that “decent” people can travel freely–under the watchful gaze of big
brother, of course–who will always be looking for danger for your benefit.
There will be very little personal freedom in such zones, as you will have
given it all away to the corporations you’re so thankful to be a member of.

Public law enforcement will become a complete joke. It’ll be full of
corruption and nobody within the public will trust it in the slightest.
Bribes will be the main way in which the police department will be dealt
with. But the police won’t be the primary security force anyway–that’ll go
to the new, private security forces like Blackwater.

Get a weekly breakdown of what’s happening in security and tech—and why it matters.

These forces will secure the green zones around corporate working and living
areas. Think “protected, corporate suburbs”. This is where you’ll have the
Churches and propaganda-creation systems that teach you how to identify
free-thinkers, liberals, and other types of troublemakers. And there will be
many hotlines available for reporting such activity. It’ll be very
McCarthy-like.

There will be a primary religion within these areas–one that focuses
strongly on unity and rejects different interpretations of the texts. The
focus of the religious teachings will be on duty to produce for the
corporations, and to report those who would do the system harm.

In the short term, this will materialize as gated communities. Not just
residences, but entire areas. There will soon be entire malls where you need
a certain kind of ID to get in. It’ll be completely private, to be legal and
all, but the main goal will be to keep the
minorities bad people
out. These malls will be patrolled by Blackwater types in full paramilitary
gear, which will make the materialistic, church-going, racist, shoppers feel
very safe.

Everything will be recorded. Again, this will be marketed as for safety, but
it’ll really be a control mechanism. It’ll be a means of keeping the flock
clean. Too much of the wrong music, the wrong web surfing, the wrong
conversation–and you’re out. Fired from the corporation, which means you
have to move out of the neighborhood–out from under the protection of the
corporate (Blackwater) security forces–and into the main city where you will
be lucky not to be robbed within a month.

This is where we’re heading. Greedy, powerful corporations controlling
everything. Politicians will be the enforcement arm of the corporations;
they’ll determine what we can and cannot do–all in terms of what is best for
corporate profits. And the benefit to the politicians, of course, is that
they’ll become part of the corporate elite.

Enough for now. ::